You wake slowly, sit up in your bunk, look around the tent, and try to ignore the pounding in your head, the cottony taste in your mouth, and the ache in your stomach. The droning of a plane's engine breaks the stillness and you realize that things outside are quiet -- too quiet. You know that this can mean only one thing: your workmen have deserted you. They complained over the last few weeks, grumbling about the small pay and lack of food, and your inability to locate the pyramid. And after what you stupidly did yesterday, trying to make them work on a holy day, their leaving is understandable.

The Professor's map was just an ancient map -- as worthless as an ice cube in the Arctic without an instrument fine enough to accurately measure longitude and latitude. You knew that the site was nearby. You dug, and you ordered the workers to dig, even without the box. As you listen to the plane and rub your aching eyes, you pray they left you supplies enough to find the pyramid and to survive, and that the plane's carrying the long-overdue box.

Your Tent
(You are in the army cot.)
You are in your tent. Golden rays of the sun filter through the open tent flaps on the southern wall, but no breeze makes its way through. The dry, searing heat in the tent would be bearable if only the air stirred, even a little.
At the foot of the cot is a large, unwieldy trunk. The trunk is closed and locked with a padlock.

Welcome to my newest LP! Infidel is Infocom's tenth interactive fiction game, and the first in their "Tales of Adventure" line. As you can tell from the intro, we're pretty much starting out in media res, with most of the backstory available in the documentation. Long story short, the protagonist works for a treasure hunter named Craige, but wants to make a name for himself. One day, an old woman calls the office while Craige is out, wanting Craige to find a pyramid that her father couldn't. Seeing an opportunity, the protagonist tells her he'll do it, not telling Craige. However, things don't go so well, until it reaches the point here - his workers drug and desert him after he forces them to work on a holy day, and it begins as he wakes up from his drugged sleep. Anyway, let's check this place out.

>stand
You push yourself up and manage to get out of the cot. Your legs are a little wobbly, though, and your head swims.

You hear a plane flying high overhead, outside the tent.

That's the plane mentioned in the intro. By the way, the "box" is a device that can precisely calculate longitude and latitude, if you're wondering. Anyway, might as well do inventory.

>i
You are empty-handed.

You hear a plane flying high overhead, outside the tent.

As expected, and the trunk is locked, so we probably can't open it. But that doesn't mean we can't examine it.

>examine trunk
It's an old steamer trunk, very heavy and too clumsy for one person to carry.

You hear a plane flying high overhead, outside the tent.

So we won't be able to carry it. There's nothing else to do here, and only one exit, so let's take it.

>s
Outside Your Tent
You are on an east/west path on the north side of the encampment. To the south you can see a firepit and to the north is the entrance to your tent. Everything is oddly quiet, unsettling, creating a feeling of floating anxiety. The stillness seems to enhance the eerie quality of the desert, the feeling of being truly alone. There's an enlarged hole in the sand, a remnant of your excavation attempts.

The plane seems to be circling right overhead.

Lots more exits here, so this seems like a good stopping point. Where to from here?

Inventory:
None

Score:
Your score is 0 out of a possible 400, in 4 moves.
This score gives you the rank of a fumbling beginner.

Exits:
East from Outside Your Tent.
South from Outside Your Tent.
West from Outside Your Tent.

You look up to see a small speck appear right beneath the plane -- probably a parachute. The plane heads off far to the northwest, dipping its wings in a salute.

That might be impotant, but let's check out what lies to the west first.

>w
Near the Nile
You are on an east/west path on the north side of the encampment. A path to the south starts here, and you can see the riverbank clearly to the west. A warm, light breeze reaches your face, drying your sweat into a thin mask of salt. You glance to the north and are greeted by a disheartening sight: an endless stretch of searing desert. There's a small hole in the sand, a remnant of your excavation attempts.

A small speck descending from the plane overhead gets larger until you see a crate, dangling from a parachute.

That crate might be important, but what to do next?

Inventory:
None

Score:
Your score is 0 out of a possible 400, in 8 moves.
This score gives you the rank of a fumbling beginner.

Exits:
East from Outside Your Tent.
South from Outside Your Tent.
West from Near the Nile.
South from Near the Nile.
North from Near the Nile.

Two suggestions today, so let's give them both a shot. First, Mogri's.

>wipe face
I don't know the word "wipe".

>open crate
Hey, give it a chance to get here. I know you're impatient to get on with this, but be reasonable!

At last, your luck seems to be changing. A large crate lands right before you, its parachute flapping in the breeze. The parachute breaks away from the crate and drifts off in the wind.

Thankfully, it's landed now, so let's...

>open crate
The crate opens slowly, the boards creaking with the strain. Opening the packing crate reveals a navigation box.

It's the navigation box! Shame that we don't have any workers, but let's take a look at it.

>get box
Taken.

>examine box
This is an expensive, state-of-the-art piece of electronic equipment. It was designed to automatically determine longitude and latitude when the button on it is pressed. Thankfully, it has at last arrived.

And now let's check out the west, per Gerad's suggestion.

>w
River Bank
You are on the bank of the river Nile. The shoreline is sandy and cool, and reeds wave in a light but warm breeze. Directly to the north and the south thickets make strolling along the bank impossible. You're hot, and the cool rippling water to the west looks inviting, but you're not alone in that thought -- crocodiles bask on the west bank, eyeing you hungrily, just waiting for you to enter their watery domain. Things were never like this when Craige was around.

What to do now?

Inventory:
A navigation box

Score:
Your score is 0 out of a possible 400, in 13 moves.
This score gives you the rank of a fumbling beginner.

Exits:
East from Outside Your Tent.
South from Outside Your Tent.
South from Near the Nile.
North from Near the Nile.

>w
Can't you see the crocs? If you insist on entering the water, you'll have to swim.

>swim
You manage to wade a few feet into the river, but this makes the crocodiles spring into action -- they advance far more quickly than you thought possible. You panic and turn to the bank, attempting to flee. Your splashing about makes the beasts double their efforts and reach you just as you are about to step on shore. The last thought you have is a slight amazement at how many teeth a crocodile has and just how sharp they are.

**** You have died ****

You feel yourself disembodied in a deep blackness. A voice from the void, or perhaps it's just your dying thoughts, rings in your ears.

"Obsessions are the torment of men's souls, reaching out for something greater than life has offered. Perhaps this is what makes the difference between an ordinary mortal and an adventurer!" It is the last thing you hear.

For some reason, this game doesn't give the Restore/Restart/Quit option, it just asks you if you want to start again.

Anyway, let's explore this area some more. Gerad suggested going north, and Mogri suggested going east. There's no path north of River Bank, but, as Mogri said...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mogri

Go east, east, east to undo his misguidance.

I'm not sure if that means to go east three times or is just saying "go east" three times for emphasis, but I'll assume the former.

>e
Near the Nile
Lying in the sand is a wooden packing crate.

>e
Outside Your Tent

>e
Northern Path
You are on an east/west path on the northern side of the encampment. To the east you can see the sites of previous excavations your workers had begun before they deserted you. Low, gentle sand dunes roll out of sight to the north, but your camp's eastern border has a path, heading off to the south, which starts here. There's an enlarged hole in the sand, a remnant of your excavation attempts.

Where to from here?

Inventory:
A navigation box (displays precise latitude and longitude)

Score:
Your score is 0 out of a possible 400, in 13 moves.
This score gives you the rank of a fumbling beginner.

Exits:
South from Outside Your Tent.
South from Near the Nile.
North from Near the Nile.
North from Northern Path.
East from Northern Path.
South from Northern Path.

>enter hole
You hit your head against the hole as you attempt this feat.

Guess we can't enter the hole. But let's see what's to the north.

>n
Desert
You are in the desert, a vast wasteland of sand and heat.

Looks like there's not much to the north. So let's check out some of the camp, per Taeryn's suggestions.

>s
Northern Path

>e
Desert
You are in the broiling sands of the desert, a short distance from the camp. Off to the west you can just make out a slight discoloration in the sand, the start of an east/west path which borders the northern edge of the camp. There's a small hole in the sand, a remnant of your excavation attempts. A cool pool of water seems to dance in the heat waves just a mile away. You can almost hear Rankin and Craige arguing over the spoils.

Maybe this hole is more examinable?

>examine hole
Never mind that -- Here's a better problem: You dig a hole 52 feet by 20 feet by .105 yards. It takes you 5 hours, 11 minutes and 2 seconds. You sweat off thirty grams of water per hour. And your best friend just ran off with the rent money. Now: How much sand is in the hole you dug?

Nice little Easter egg there, but let's check out the fire pit.

>w
Northern Path

>w
Outside Your Tent

>s
Fire Pit
You are in the center of the encampment, standing before a charred pit, a hole dug in the sand surrounded by blackened rocks. The night breezes have already started the reclamation work of the desert, covering most of the pit's bottom. You can see your tent to the north, the work tent to the south, and the supply tent to the west. Far off to the east, through the heat waves rising off the shifting sands, you can see gentle, rolling dunes. There's an enlarged hole in the sand, a remnant of your excavation attempts.
Half covered with sand is a bright piece of foil which catches your eye.
Sitting by a rock is what looks like a matchbook.

There's actually some stuff here, so let's take a look at it.

>examine foil
It's an empty pack of Camel cigarettes.

>examine matchbook
The matchbook is closed.

And, if it's closed...

>open matchbook
Opening the matchbook reveals a few matches.

A source of fire is always useful in these games, so let's take it.

>take matchbook
Taken.

The cigarette pack probably isn't so useful, but it's not nailed down, so...

>take foil
Taken.

Where to from here?

Inventory:
A cigarette pack
A matchbook

A few matches

A navigation box (displays precise latitude and longitude)

Score:
Your score is 0 out of a possible 400, in 29 moves.
This score gives you the rank of a fumbling beginner.

Exits:
South from Near the Nile.
North from Near the Nile.
North from Northern Path.
East from Northern Path.
South from Northern Path.
East from Fire Pit.
South from Fire Pit.
West from Fire Pit.

Current puzzles:
A locked trunk.
Finding the lost pyramid.
Trying to navigate the desert.

Don't worry too much about the faction war. I take all suggestions, so I'll do them in the order that seems most efficient. First, seeing what lies south of the fire pit.

>s
Outside Work Tent
You are on an east/west path, directly to the north of the work tent. To the north you can see the firepit and, beyond that, your tent. The work tent borders an endless vista of fine, burning sand stretching out to the south. There's an enlarged hole in the sand, a remnant of your excavation attempts.

Lots of exits from here, but let's check out the other two suggestions. I'm assuming that south from Near the Nile is the same as west from Fire Pit, so...

>n.w.
Fire Pit

Outside Supply Tent
You're on a north/south path on the west edge of the encampment. Directly to the west is the supply tent, its flaps open, still in the hot, quiet air. To the east you can see the central firepit, a reminder of your being alone. A row of thickets, impossible to make any progress through even with a machete, grows along the western edge of the camp directly to the north and south of the tent. There's an enlarged hole in the sand, a remnant of your excavation attempts.

The supply tent...that might just be useful, and Taeryn did suggest getting supplies. But let's see what's north from Near the Nile first.

>n
Near the Nile
Lying in the sand is a wooden packing crate.

>n
Desert
You are in the desert, a vast wasteland of sand and heat.

Aaand...it's more desert. So let's see if there's anything in the supply tent.

>s.s.w.
Near the Nile
Lying in the sand is a wooden packing crate.

Outside Supply Tent
You scowl at the sun, cursing its searing heat.

Supply Tent
You are in a tent, very much like your own -- a tent which had originally contained the supplies for your expedition. You notice, however, that most of the items which were here just yesterday have vanished with your workers. The tent looks as if it's been cleaned out and, as your stomach growls, the empty tent ironically reminds you of a turkey carcass picked clean after a huge Thanksgiving meal. Through the open tent flaps to the east you can see the firepit. If only one of the workers had remained behind, you would make him pay.
Stuck in the sand, handle down, is a small pick axe.
Half buried in the sand, in the corner of the tent, is a shovel.

Ah, now those might come in handy for excavating the pyramid...if we manage to find where it is.

>take pick, shovel
pick axe: Taken.
shovel: Taken.

So, where to from here?

Exits:
North from Northern Path.
East from Northern Path.
South from Northern Path.
East from Fire Pit.
East from Outside Work Tent.
South from Outside Work Tent.
West from Outside Work Tent.
South from Outside Supply Tent.

Inventory:
A shovel
A pick axe
A cigarette pack
A matchbook

A few matches

A navigation box (displays precise latitude and longitude)

Score:
Your score is 0 out of a possible 400, in 38 moves.
This score gives you the rank of a fumbling beginner.

Current puzzles:
A locked trunk.
Finding the lost pyramid.
Trying to navigate the desert.

It's been three days without any suggestions, so I'll use my LPer's prerogative to explore the rest of the camp.

>e.s.
Outside Supply Tent

Southern Path
You are at the west edge of an east/west path on the southern side of the encampment. Directly to the west is a heavy growth of thickets, making any attempt at western movement a painful and futile task. Through the thickets you can hear the sound of water running gently by. There's a small hole in the sand, a remnant of your excavation attempts.

>e.e.
Outside Work Tent

Southern Path
You are at the start of a path which heads north along the eastern border of the encampment. To the east you can see the horror and the beauty which brought you here, the desert sand and its hidden treasure. The firepit is visible to the northwest. There's an enlarged hole in the sand, a remnant of your excavation attempts.

>n
Middle Path
You are at the eastern edge of an east/west path in the middle of the camp. To the west you can see the firepit and beyond that the supply tent. To the east you can see the desert -- a vista difficult to avoid seeing from just about anywhere in the camp. A north/south path intersects here, traveling along the eastern border of the camp. There's an enlarged hole in the sand, a remnant of your excavation attempts.

And, last but not least...

>w.s.s.
Fire Pit

Outside Work Tent

Work Tent
You are in a tent which used to house the workers and their personal effects. Looking around, taking in the stripped and bare surroundings, you feel surprised that they even left the canvas walls. You quickly realize that they took what they needed -- taking everything would have been more trouble than it was worth. From the looks of things they cleared out quickly but quietly.
Tacked up to the inside of one of the tent flaps is a note.
Sitting in the sand, bulging a little, is a beaten-up knapsack.

Plenty of stuff here. Let's check it out.

>read note
The note reads:

Fi aman Allah!
Hereafter you shall pursue your fool dream of the hidden pyramid and its riches alone. May the jackals feed well on your bones. We have left you what you need to get back, though we hope you do not. We put several things you treasure above life itself inside your trunk, locked with your precious padlock, but we could not bear to part with the key. Especially after what you said of our rites. We hope the drug we placed in your drink did you harm. If not, we are at least satisfied you slept especially soundly while we cleaned out the camp.

Farewell

And we've got a thread title!

If you're wondering, this note also appears on the game box.

Anyway, let's check out the knapsack.

>examine knapsack
The knapsack is closed.
You wipe your fevered brow.

>open knapsack
Opening the knapsack reveals a rope, and a canteen.
You wipe your fevered brow.

Now that might be useful!

>get knapsack
(wearing it)
You swing the knapsack over your shoulders and it settles on your back as its cover flap closes.
You wipe your fevered brow.

Where to now? And what could those messages about my "fevered brow" mean? Until next time!

Exits:
East from Southern Path.
East from Middle Path.

Inventory:
A knapsack (being worn)

A rope

A canteen

A shovel
A pick axe
A cigarette pack
A matchbook

A few matches

A navigation box (displays precise latitude and longitude)

Score:
Your score is 0 out of a possible 400, in 50 moves.
This score gives you the rank of a fumbling beginner.

Current puzzles:
A locked trunk.
Finding the lost pyramid.
Trying to navigate the desert.

maybe we're just thirsty. see if there's anything to drink in the canteen. if not, go fill it up from the river.

That sounds like a good idea.

>remove knapsack. get canteen. open canteen.
You take the knapsack off and place it down. As it settles, the cover flaps open.

Taken.

Opened.

>examine canteen
The canteen is empty.

And, since it's empty...

>n.n.n.w.w.
Outside Work Tent

Fire Pit

Outside Your Tent

Near the Nile
Lying in the sand is a wooden packing crate.

River Bank

>fill canteen
Okay, you have filled the canteen.
If you don't drink something, and now, you're gonna be history.

Just in the nick of time!

>drink water
You feel much refreshed.

And, just in case...

>fill canteen
Okay, you have filled the canteen.

Now to get back to the business of finding the pyramid.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Taeryn

According to the map that came with the game, the X on the map is east of the southeast corner of the map, so east from point "n" on your map.

So, let's check that out.

>e.e.s.s.e.e.
Near the Nile
Lying in the sand is a wooden packing crate.

Outside Your Tent

Fire Pit

Outside Work Tent

Southern Path

Desert
You are in the desert, east of the encampment. From this distance the camp seems little more than a mirage, an image of another reality which has little to do with the brutal, searing reality of the desert, your quickly dehydrating body, or your painfully broiling feet. There's a small hole in the sand, a remnant of your excavation attempts.

>dig
What do you want to dig in?

I don't know...maybe the sand that's everywhere? I'm hoping that this isn't one of those "guess the verb" things... :P

>dig hole
What do you want to dig the hole with?

>dig hole with shovel
You've enlarged the hole a little, taking out two shovelsfull for every one that collapses back in from the walls.

I have a feeling that there's more to it than just checking the X.

As a free hint, remember the intro and take another look at the map and our inventory. What item might come in handy here?

Anyway, it looks like there's another problem to contend with. Where to find some food?

Exits:
East from Southern Path.
East from Middle Path.

Inventory:
A knapsack (being worn)

A rope

A canteen

A shovel
A pick axe
A cigarette pack
A matchbook

A few matches

A navigation box (displays precise latitude and longitude)

Score:
Your score is 0 out of a possible 400, in 72 moves.
This score gives you the rank of a fumbling beginner.

Current puzzles:
A locked trunk.
Finding the lost pyramid.
Trying to navigate the desert.
Finding some food.

at point "Q" on the map, use the GPS device. The X on the map appears to be located at 12'43" on the top of the map and 11'3" on the side of the map. So, I would guess we need to navigate to that location by checking the device and moving until we get the coordinates right.

>examine sticker
The small inspection sticker says:
This trunk inspected by numbers 8 and 6.5. This reality was manufactured by tiny elves from the Bozbar Pyramid Construction Company, a jointly-owned subsidiary of the FrobozzCo Magic Village Industries, Michael Berlyn and Patricia Fogleman, Chief Engineers.

Ah, yes. Nothing quite like gratuitous self-promotion. I'm pretty sure that I know what the game will say about the map, but let's look at it anyway.

>examine map
You're not carrying the map.

>drop sticker. take map. examine it.
Dropped.

Taken. It feels fairly heavy, though, as though it were folded around something solid.

You'd better unfold it first.

Ah, so there's something more to it!

>unfold map
Unfolding the ancient map reveals a stone cube.

And, since it's in my trunk, that must mean it's something I "treasure above life itself", so might as well take a look at it.

>examine cube
This is a small stone cube, almost four inches on a side, with ancient markings on it. The markings look like this:

# !@! :: (()) !@! //\\

That weird string of ASCII is this game's equivalent to hieroglyphics. I'm not sure if there are any clues to translating them in-game, but some of them are translated in the feelies. These ones translate to "the queen and all (her) treasures".

That might be important in the future... anyway, now to look for the pyramid!

First, though, I made a bit of a mistake earlier. As you may recall, I took off my knapsack to take out the canteen, but the game automatically interprets that as dropping it. So, after a quick side-trip to the work tent and some inventory juggling to get it back...

According to the map, the pyramid is at 24º11'3"N, 32º12'43" E, so we're close. Just a little further...

>e
Desert
You are in the desert, out of sight of the encampment. You are thankful there's no wind, even though a cooling breeze would be welcomed, since the fine sand particles would sting your face and hands. All around is the desert, a sweeping expanse of disheartening sand. There's a small hole in the sand, a remnant of your excavation attempts.

>dig hole with shovel
You've enlarged the hole a little, taking out two shovelsfull for every one that collapses back in from the walls.
You feel yourself growing weaker. Without nourishment, this is a losing cause!

Good thing we've got that meat!

>eat beef
That really hit the spot. It did make you a little thirstier, though.
You'd better drink something, and soon!

About what I expected...

>drink water
You feel much refreshed.

Now to get back to digging!

>dig hole with shovel
You've made the hole quite sizable, though it's not very deep. The deeper you dig, the more the walls collapse and so you widen the base of the hole.

>g
You're knee-deep in the hole, digging away, taking out more and more sand. You silently curse those workers for having deserted you.

So, we've got a cube, a hole, and two suggestions to put the former in the latter. Let's take a closer look at the hole first, though.

!-! !-!
-> #. ! ! - # ! ! /

More hieroglyphs, and I'm not sure what they're supposed to say. So let's put the cube in and see what that does.

>put cube in hole
The ancient stones beneath your feet shake and tremble as they move the sands. You leap out of the way and manage to avoid being sucked down into the vortex. Through the sands, an entrance down into the pyramid is revealed. The entire experience sends a jolt of adrenaline through your body as your lips form a sneer. You've found it. And without any help from those idiots.

Only one thing to do now...

>d
Chamber of Ra
You are standing in the Chamber of Ra, a tribute to the Sun God. Even though the only natural light enters through the opening above, the room is brilliantly lit as though the walls themselves generated light. The room slopes inward and the walls meet at an open point, over your head. The heat of the desert filters down through the opening and, as the air slowly circulates, the deep, long-dead musty odors from the depths of the pyramid assault your senses. Four staircases descend from here: a steep one to the north, a winding one to the south, a wide one to the east, and a narrow one to the west. In the center of the room is a large red sandstone altar mounted solidly in the floor.
Lying on the floor, partially covered with dust, is a small pink alabaster jar.
Leaning against the altar is a bronze torch.

There's stuff here, and you know what that means!

>take jar, torch
pink jar: Taken.
bronze torch: Taken.

Might as well examine them more closely, too.

>examine jar
The pink jar is closed.

>open jar
Opening the jar reveals a small amount of liquid.

>examine liquid
The liquid is oily to the touch and smells as if it could be highly volatile.

>examine torch
The torch has a tapered tip, much like a wick, which should be able to hold a large amount of oil. The torch is not lit.

I assume that you probably know what to do with this stuff, but where shall we explore first?

Exits:
North from Chamber of Ra.
East from Chamber of Ra.
South from Chamber of Ra.
West from Chamber of Ra.